Safety guard device



' Nov. 12, 1929.

w. J. STEBLER SAFETY GUARD DEVICE Filed Dec. 30, 1.927

INVENTOR m W WI'YNESSES Wig m Patented Nov. 12, 1929 r V UNITED WILLIAMJ. STEBLER, or PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, AssIenoB. or on'E-nIc-n'rn 5 TOM. A. HERALD, ONE-EIGHTH T0 ROBERT noenns, ONE-FOURTH TO 13-, J.McLAUGI-I- LIN, am) vAnIA ONE-FOURTH r0 WALTER J. CURLEY, arm orPITTSBURGH, PENNSYL- SAFETY even-n DEVICE Application filed December30', 1927. Serial No.'243,583.

This invention relates to safety hangers for brake-lever connecting-rodsfor railway cars. The objects of the invention are-to provlde a simple,effective, easily attached and cletached safety catch of the classreferred to; to provide this guard with attachlng means adapted tocooperate with brake-beam safety catches, whereby to render theattaching means ofboth such safety supports more simple and more secure.

Other objects and advantages w1ll be apparent to those familiar withsuch structures from a reading of the following specification and aninspection of the drawing. 1 i

Referring to the drawings, Fig.1 is a side elevation of a spring plankwith brake-beam supports and the present safety hanger attached to thespring plank; Fig. 2 1s a vertical cross section through the springplank on the line IIII; and Fig. Sis a perspective v ew from a pointbelow the spring plank, show ng the brake-beam supports and theconnecting rod safety hanger loop as attached to the spring plank.

In my copending application Ser1al No. 207,629, filed July 22, 1927, Ihave .descrlbed a brake beam support or safety catch comprlsing armsextending laterally from the spring plank, and attached to thesprlngplank by a pair of hook members extendmg over the flanges thereof, thetwo arms of the support being connected together under the'mid- 'dle ofthe spring plank by a compression bolt.-

Inorder to positively engagethe square head of the bolt one of thesafety catch members has to be turned downward and then outward to forman abutment for the non-circular head of the'bolt. This requires anadditional operation in the manufacture of that part of the device,renders the two main parts of the device non-symmetrical, and requires acompression bolt for attaching the two parts together. A compressionbolt is required rather than a rivet because resilient reaction of theparts is required in order to secure a suific'ienti frictional grip uponthe spring plank to prevent displacement of the'catches longitudinallyof the spring plank.

- The device referred to in the previous application; concerns onlysafety guards for in}; rod;

due to the coming out of a pin or the like.

brake-beams. The present device adds a safety guard for thebrake-actuating connect- As will be readily understood by thosefamiliarwith the art, brakes'are applied by levers which have. an operativeconnection running under the trucks to an air cylinder. Sometimes theseconnections become loose, In that case theend of the connecting rod mayfall upon the track, and if the loose end is in the direction of travelofthe car, the connecting rod may be driven through the floor of thecar, or it may lift the truck and derail the car. For this arrangementit is highly. de-

sir'able to provide means approximately at the mlddle part of theconnecting rod to catch.

spring plank P is illustrated. The positionmg of such a member in a cartruck iswell understood, and will not be described in detail. Thesemembers are ordinarily positioned with the flanges F turned up, asillustrated inFig. 1. Near each end of'the spring plank there aresecured brake-beam safety catches or supports comprising apair of hookmembers H, having terminal inward and downward port-ions 1, adapted toextend over the edges of the flanges F-of the springplank, asillustrated in Fig. 1. 3 These hook members v are extended at theirlowerend outward to form the armsfor catching a loose brakebeam, or elseare riveted, welded or otherwise attached to separate members formingsuch arms. As illustrated in the present drawing R. This arm member 4;extends inward to the middle portion of the spring plank and a structureis adapted to be oppositely positioned on the-other flange ofthe springplank.

I 1 middle line.

thenhas a downwardly bent vertical portion 6, which is perforated atabout its middle portion to receive a rivet or bolt 7 A similar The twoportions 6 are thus brought close together but not in contact along themiddle longitudinal portion of the spring plank, as illustrated in Fig.2. WVhen the two adjacent portions 6 are fastened together, as by therivet 7, the brake-beam support is complete. I

To this. structure, in the present case, there isaolded a carrier bar10, which extends on the under side of the spring plank along itsTowards the outer ends of this barthere are ll-shaped Bouts or notches11 on the usameside of the bar, extending inward from the under edgethereof when the bar is in normal position as shown in the drawings.

At theinidd-le portion of the bar 10 a depend- V ing bracket or loop 12is provided. The ends of the loop are attached to the bar 10 by means ofrivets 13. The loop 13 is deep enough and broad enough to extend aroundthe usual connecting rod 14 of the brake-actuating mechanism. Thisconnecting rod may extend'to a lever as'ill-ustrated,-or other memberoperatively connected to the air cylinders. In :case eitlierend of thisconnecting rod becomes loosened, the loop '12 will act as a safetycatch, supporting the rod until it can be reconnected at the loose end.

The cuts 11 in the bar 10 are positioned at f the'points where thebrake-beam safety supports are to be placed uponithe spring plank.

' The bar extends between the two portions 6., 6,

' of the brake-beam guard assembly as shown in Fig.2, and therivet 7which connects these two portions 6, 6 extends through the open- I ingllin the bar 10; The outer ends of this bar abut against" fixed truckmembers 15, which prevent any lateral displacement of the bar, andconsequentlyprevent anydisplacen'c-entof the brake-beam safety supportsupon the spring blank. I

'The'present structure permits the use of a rivetj'ljfor'connecting thetwo arms of the brake-beam supports, instead of'a compression bolt. Thisis because thebrake-beam for 'connect'ing'the two halves of the brakebeam supports, since no're'liance need be placed upon the frictionalgrip of the supports on the spring plank, the supports being slidable onthe spring plank except for the positive spacing of bar 10. This doesaway with an additional operation for forming an abutment for a bolthead, as was previously required for such brake-beam support assembhes,and permits making the pairs of members for the brake-beam supportsidenti-.

cal and therefore interchangeable: Since the rivet 7 is positionedentirely beneath the spring plank it is easy for workmen to put it in ortake it out at this point on a carona track. No holes or other changesare required in the spring plank andno .fixed members whatever have tobe added to the truckstructurein order to provide this safety p and topositively position the brake-beam catches.

At the same time a riveted-up substantially rigid safety guard assemblyboth for brakebeams and brake-lever connectingrods is provided. i r

Icl-aim: 7 I 1. In a railroad car truck, a-safety loop for abrake-operating connecting mod, :a .bar,

parts of thetruckl'at'each end and also post 7 tively engaging the brakebeamoatohes and spacing themapart. i

3; In a railroad .carftruck, the combination of a spring plank,brake-beam safetycatches supported under. and by the spring plank, a

bar longitudinally positioned under the spring plank and abutting fixedparts-of the truck at each end, a safety loop carried by said bar andadapted to enclose a brake-actuating connecting rod, and membersextending through said bar and said brake beam catches whereby toposition the catches relative to the bar and to prevent movement thereoflongitudinally of the spring plank. V p 1 I 4;. In a railroad car truckcomprising a spring plank and brake mechanism, the combination of safetysupports for brake-beams and a safety support for connecting rods,comprising brake-beam supports composed of pairs of oppositelypositioned similar members adapted to hook over upturned flanges of aspring plank and to be connected through down-turned perforatedspaced-apart terminals positioned beneath and near the middlelongitudinal line of the spring'plank, a bar positioned beneath thespring plank extending longitudinally thereof and abut tingfixedrpartsof the truck-at each end,a loop adapted to surround abrake-actuating con- 'necting-rod-and to serve as a safety-icabchtherefor, said bar having openings therethrough and beingpositionedlbetween the above'referred to members of the brake-beamsupports, and connections extending through ing under the spring plankand having their ends turned down to form spaced-apart parallelperforated terminal portions, a bar extending longitudinally of andunder the spring plank and between said spaced-apart terminals of thearm members, and fastening members connecting said terminal membersthrough said bar, whereby to connect and positively position the safetysupport arms on the spring plank.

In testimony whereof, I sign my name.

WILLIAM J. STEBLER. i

